Crowds flocked the Christmas Market on Bryant Park in search of gifts on Christmas Eve.

“I just didn’t have time to do shopping earlier,” she said. “I’ve been working a lot. This is the only time I have off.”

Experts have issued rosy forecasts for the season. Shoppers seem to be in a spending mood, with unemployment at a 17-year low and consumer sentiment at its highest level since 2000. They are spending at a pace not seen since the Great Recession, says Craig Johnson, president of a retail consulting group.